commandant’s corner then and no · gust at 1300 at rocky hill. 2. our department conven- tion has...
TRANSCRIPT
August 2020 — September 2020
Newsletter of The Department of Connecticut Marine Corps League
Then and Now
Marines,
We are on the down side of 2020 and it has
been while since we have come together for
MCL business or socially. But we will get
through this. Although we haven’t seen each
other, a lot has happened since our last face to
face meeting.
1. We now have a home base of operations at
Rocky Hill Veterans Home in Rocky Hill,
CT. Our first face to face meeting
will be held on Sunday, 9 Au-
gust at 1300 at Rocky
Hill.
2. Our Department Conven- tion has
been postponed until June 2021.
3. The National Convention has been cancelled
for a year as well.
Please remember that everyone’s MCL dues
are due by 31 August. If you do not send in your
dues by that date, you will be late.
I hope to see most of you in the near fu-
ture. But until then, stay well and stay safe.
Semper Fi,
Adele Hodges
Commandant, Department of Connecticut
Marine Corps League
Commandant’s Corner
I found this idea on FaceBook back in June
and liked it. So I ran the idea past a few people and
they agreed with me that it is something we would
like to do and maybe even have some fun with it.
For the next newsletter, which will cover Veterans
Day we would like to publish pictures of Dress Blue
Boot Camp Pictures and your picture
from today. If you have sons
or daughters that followed
you, you may want to consid-
er publishing all of your Dress Blue
Photos and span the generations. An ex-
ample of this I have shown here of my Then and
Now pictures. Some will say that I am brave to put
my pictures up here twice to show how ugly I was
and how much uglier I have become, but I feel My
photos should be listed as how good looking Ma-
rines are. So as the saying goes. “Show us what
you’ve got” because we all know, “No guts No
glory”.
Walt Benson
Department o
f CT M
eeting
Sunday August 9th at 1
3:00
Rocky Hill V
A Hospita
l
Ask at the G
ate for th
e meetin
g locatio
n
2
8 Marines & 1 Sailor Die In Training Exercise CNN's Michael Callahan and Hollie Silverman
Department of Connecticut
Elected Officers, 2019-2020 Commandant .............................Adele Hodges
203-843-1244
Sr. Vice Commandant………...David Rosa
203-974-9733
Jr. Vice Commandant………… Pat McMahon
860-222-5024
Judge Advocate ....................... Richard Daigle
203-506-8786
Sgt. At Arms .................... …….James W. Morris
860-394-5111
Adjutant/Paymaster ...................Walt Benson
203-768-8435
Newsletter Editor ......................Walt Benson
203-768-8435
Funeral Honors ..........................James W. Morris
860-394-5111
Chaplain ....................................Michael Bolash
203-368-1705
The Worthy Pack Leader…….. Jim Soder
860-342-1919
Young Marines Liaison … …...Pat McMahon
860-222-5024
Web Sergeant …………………Skip Hamel
203-527-8137
Public Relations .........................Sal Sena
860-614-6188
Historian ....................................Jack Savage
860-628-4827
Sixteen servicemen were on board the AAV for
shore-to-shore operations Thursday when crew mem-
bers reported they had taken on water, the 15th Marine
Expeditionary Unit said Sunday in a news release.
Five were rescued and taken aboard the USS
Somerset, while at least one died and eight others were
presumed dead, the release said. Those rescued were
wearing normal combat gear including body armor and
an inflatable vest. Some were found floating, Gen. David
Berger, commandant of the US Marine Corps, said.
Lance Cpl. Guillermo S. Perez, 20, of New
Braunfels, Texas, was pronounced dead at the scene
before being taken by helicopter to Scripps Memorial
Hospital in San Diego. He was a rifleman with Bravo
Company, Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/4, according
to Sunday's release.
The eight others presumed dead were identified
Sunday:
• Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, 19, of Corona, California
• Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, CA
• Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, WI, a rifleman
• USN Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton,
CA
• Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, OR, a rifleman
• Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Texas, a rifleman
• Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 19, of Portland, OR a
rifleman
• Cpl. Cesar A. Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, CA , a
rifleman
The search ended Saturday night after 40 hours,
the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said. Similar training
has been suspended while officials learn more about the
incident.
"It is with a heavy heart, that I decided to conclude the
search and rescue effort," said Col. Christopher Bronzi, a
commanding officer.
Marines all over the country are asked to Lite a candle
and observe a moment of Silence on Saturday August 8
at 20:00 PST or 23:00 EST. Semper Fidelis
3
Edison Charles Occhi. Widely known as Gunny Occhi. “I may be the only one” Gunny Occhi told. Maybe his Brother Ted (also a
Marine) knew. Gunny Occhi was promoted to 1st Sgt. but turned it down because as a Gunnery Sargent you
were closer to the heart of the Corps, the enlisted who were the worker Bees of the Corps.
He was 88 when a rare disaster happened and resulted in him dying several days later. His new gas
clothes dryer exploded the first time he went to use it. This was a tremendous loss to his family and all his
Marine friends and there were many!
I have never seen anyone else who had instant recall of so much of Marine Corps history. He could tell
you the month and year many battles started and finished. I asked him many, many questions in the 27 years
I have known and re- spected him and not
once did he have to say “I don’t know”. Gun-
ny was a Korean War Veteran who fought at
Chosin Reservoir and when it was cold out
and we were outside complaining about it, he
often told stories about how cold it was there.
He held every of- fice in our Detachment
and was our Comman- dant longer than anyone
else. He was also elected Department of
Connecticut Comman- dant. He brought class
and respect to every- thing he did and from
many Veterans. He was a member of 2
Detachments for many years.
He was also a member of the Veterans
of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.
He organized and exe- cuted many Ceremonies
for all three organiza- tions that he was a
member of.
You only had to look at him in his Dress Blues to know he was a Marines Marine. He brought class and
dignity to every ceremony he was in.
There was a time when the Department of CT had a Rifle Team. We attended many Rifle Matches and
the only time he wasn’t the highest scorer on our Team was once at the Department of Pennsylvania’s Annu-
al Rifle Match at the Fort Indian Town Gap Army base and I watched him take his first shot and I saw a piece
of the rifle fly off. Luckily he wasn’t hurt but we didn’t have spare parts. I’m sure if that hadn't happened he
would have been high shooter then also.
Gunny Occhi you can’t imagine how much you are missed by so many Marines and other people. We
hope to see you again in Heaven. I’ll bet you’ll be the highest shooter there too!
Gunny Occhi Remembered. PDC Jim Lord
4
Greetings:
Your Department of CT MCL YM Liaison has had a busy couple of months. I facilitated the board and selection of our 2020 Samuel K. Beamon SR YMOY {described below} and attended the “retirement” of a Three Rivers Young Marines, YM GySgt Kiera McCord, and presented her with a National Distinguished Service Award authorized by our National Marine Corps League Commandant Marine Dennis Tobin.
On Sunday, 28JUNE2020, the Department of CT MCL held its annual YMOY selection board {via Zoom}. There were two candidates submitted for consideration who met the pre-requisite for consideration. At the conclusion of said board, and calculating the submitted scoring sheets (which covered Young Marine Resume; Young Marine Essay; and YMOY Board), the following Young Marine was selected with an overall score of: 93.83
2020 Samuel K. Beamon Sr. Dept of CT YMOY YM GySgt Tanner Linhard of the Rivertown Young Marines
The selection board consisted of: Marine Bruce Katz: New England Division MCL YM Liaison / Dept of NH MCL Cmndt 3rd YM BN CO / Unit Commander of the Boston Young Marines Marine Doug Fisk: Original Regimental Commander of the Southern New England Regiment Original Commander of the 1st Young Marine Division Over 22 years as a Young Marine adult volunteer Member of the Paul C Houghton MCL Detachment Past Chief Devil Dog Marine David Rosa: Dept of CT Sr Vice Commandant Former Commandant of the Housatonic MCL Detachment Marine Rich Daigle: Dept of CT Judge Advocate Former Commandant of the Housatonic MCL Detachment Marine Pat McMahon: Dept of CT YM Liaison / Dept of CT Jr Vice Commandant Former Commandant of the Thames River Detachment MCL Over 21 years as a Young Marine adult volunteer We are one of the few MCL Departments that I know of that has adopted a formalized process in recognizing a worthy Young Marine within our State and we as the originating MCL Department should be proud.
MCL Department of Connecticut Young Marine Liaison
Patrick T. McMahon
5
Assistant Needed
by YM GySgt Tanner Linhard / Rivertown Young Marine
On July 26, I had the privilege of attending the Samuel K. Beamon Sr. Memorial Scholarship Com-
mittee’s “Day of Remembrance,” dedicat-
ed to honor Marine Beamon’s extensive
community work. This dedication took
place on the Samuel K. Beamon Sr. Me-
morial Bridge in Waterbury, CT.
The Brass City Young Marines, Marine
Beamon’s former unit, presented the col-
ors. The Brass City Unit was the very first
Young Marine Unit, founded in 1959, six
years before the Young Marines was char-
tered as an official detachment of the Ma-
rine Corps League.
Brass City YM LCpl. Damean Pare, an incredibly motivated Young Marine, was honored with the in-
augural Samuel K. Beamon Young Marine Alumni Award. This award personifies Marine Beamon’s efforts
to keep youth involved in their
communi- ty. “LCpl. Pare
exemplifies the Young Marine
mission ‘strengthening
the lives of America’s
Youth,’ and our unit is incredibly
proud of him,” stated Brass
City Unit Com- mander Bill
Spring. The event concluded
with Reginald Beamon, Mr.
Beamon’s brother, encour-
aging everyone to support the
charity of their choice in Marine
Beamon’s name as part of
the “Day of Service.” Re-
ginald Beamon shared that his
brother “was always giving to
people. He was a great giver.”
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7
MONDAY SUNDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
2020 2020
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4 5 6 7
11 12 13 14
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15 9 10
2 3
18 19 20 21
16 17 22
25 23 24
The Department of Connecticut website is located at www.mcldeptct.org
Please also visit The National website at www.mclnational.org
Mahackemo Det.
20:00
Brass City Det.
19:30
Hardware City
Valley Det.
Meeting 19:00
Housatonic
Det. Meeting
19:30
Thames River
Detachment
19:00
Rocky Hill
Veterans
Home Bingo
19:00
August
Lock City Det.
19:30
Ridgefield
19:00
26 27 28
Silver City Det.
Southington Me-
morial Det.
19:00
Hat City Det.
20:00
Middlesex
Det. Meeting
19:00
Northwest Det.
19:00
Bridgeport
Det. Meeting
19:00
Paul C. Hough-
ton
19:00
Peter P. Monaco
19:00
29
30
Department of
Connecticut
Meeting
13:00 Via
Zoom
31
8
MONDAY SUNDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
September 2020 2020
3 4
10 11 12
13 17 18 19
20
14
21
15 16
8 9
24 25 26
27
22 23
28 29 30
Rocky Hill
Veterans
Home Bingo
19:00
1 2 5
6 7 Mahackemo Det.
20:00
Brass City Det.
19:30
Hardware City
Middlesex
Det. Meeting
19:00
Northwest Det.
19:00
Bridgeport
Det. Meeting
19:00
Peter P. Monaco
19:00
Housatonic
Det. Meeting
19:30
Thames River
Detachment
19:00
Lock City Det.
19:30
Ridgefield
19:00
Silver City Det.
Southington Me-
morial Det.
19:00
Hat City Det.
20:00
Paul C. Hough-
ton
19:00
Valley Det.
Meeting 19:00
9
Regardless of the situation, the Marine
Corps has an answer for almost every-
thing.
A Marines Prayer
Almighty Father, whose command
is over all and whose love never fails,
make me aware of Thy presence and
obedient to Thy will. Keep me true to
my best self, guarding me against dis-
honesty in purpose and deed and help-
ing me to live so that I can face my fel-
low Marines, my loved ones, and Thee
without shame or fear. Protect my
family.
Give me the will to do the work of a
Marine and to accept my share of re-
sponsibilities with vigor and enthusi-
asm. Grant me the courage to be profi-
cient in my daily
performance. Keep me loyal and faith-
ful to my superiors and to the duties
my Country and the Marine Corps have
entrusted to me. Help me to wear my
uniform with dignity, and let it remind
me daily of the traditions which I must
uphold.
If I am inclined to doubt, steady my
faith; if I am tempted, make me strong
to resist; if I should miss the mark, give
me courage to try again.
Guide me with the light of truth and
grant me wisdom by which I may un-
Attention To Orders
The next meeting of The Department Of Connecticut
To Be Determined
As Labor Day and the end of summer approaches, let us re-
member 9-11 and all of those we lost that day to what has be-
come an everyday word, Terrorism. This year marks 19 years
since that tragic day and we still have not defeated it. This and
245 years of service to keeping us Free is why we stand for
the Flag and Our National Anthem, We Remember